Barbara (Petzold, 2012): Germany

Viewed at the Lobero Theatre on January 29, 2013, during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival at 11:00 P.M. Reviewed by Larry Gleeson. “Barbara,” is the story of a woman doctor “reassigned” from Berlin to the provinces in 1980 East Germany. The film picked up several awards from the Berlin festival including a directorial tribute. Nin Hoss plays Barbara exhibiting a cool, restrained to the point of being repressed, exterior. in a very subtle performance with a fiery intensity lurking just beneath the surface. Barbara arrives after her being sent from Berlin or as it’s often referred to exiled here to the backwater country hospital where she;s adamant about remaining separate from the rest of the hospital staff. Barbara has a plan to flee East Germany and start a new life in Denmark.. She also has a eerily and somewhat creepy aura surrounding her creating an illusory effect that she’s being watched by the East German authorities and that her moves and actions are being monitored (which they probably are). Not withstanding, Dr. Andre, played by Ronald Zehrfeld, warms up to Barbara as he shares with Barbara is tragic story as a medical doctor overseeing a patient and with the ultimate responsibility for her care when an underling mistakenly reads an instruction causing the patient’s demise and sending Dr. Andre to the country. While stationed in the country Dr. Andre made do with what’s available to him and has managed to secure enough odds and ends to create a rudimentary lab to perform critical testing and analyses. This catches Barbara off guard literally and figuratively as Barbara has taken under her wing a wounded, impregnated runaway worker. The advent of Dr. Andre’s passion and commitment lights Barbara’s fire and Hoss manages to exude a sexuality seeking expression in a very subtle, very fine,  and controlled performance. At one point, Barbara relinquishes her tight hold crimping her release “hose” as she gives Dr. Andre a full on kiss to the mouth and almost humorously declares she “can’t do this right now.” Both the action and her forthcoming verbal response just seemed very random and seemed to just pop up from some hidden recess.
Overeall, the film nicely displays Petzold’s vision of 1980 East Germany through the eyes and the experience of Barbara. The plot moves along slowly as the actors have to work in subtle and almost restrained fashion mirroring Petzold’s image of the time and place f the film. The opening sequence of Barbara on the train sets the tone for this filmmaking style as we watch Barbara looking out the train window wistfully. We know she’s going somewhere and there’s also a real sense of intrigue with a slight undercurrent of dangerous possibilities. These elements conitually appear throughout the film and help to underscore the subtle way Petzold delivers his vision. He does it well even though at times it seems rather circuitous and in the end leaves the viewer to draw some conclusions as the film closes with a black screen and Barbara’s heavy breathing heard audibly with nothing else in the background except your imagination. I recommend this film with its depiction of repression and also for the humanism so eloquently portrayed by Barbara.